26/05/2013 - MCM Expo day 3

I arrived really late on the final day of Expo, but still had a lot of fun~ 

My outfit for the day:

I did the whole "pretending to cosplay" thing, like I so often do at Expo haha

It was unexpectedly sunny, so I just sort of grabbed these sunglasses as I rushed out of the door. I actually quite like how they look with the outfit, though.

I hadn't planned to actually go inside the event that day, but DeMc had an extra pass, so I did. It was a LOT less crowded that day, so we were able to get a proper look around. I still didn't really find anything I wanted to buy, but DeMc's friend was running a sort of purikura booth, so he let us use it for free~ :D

I ended up buying a Cookie Monster cupcake, because I am very easily amused.

When we were done looking around, we got some ice cream because the weather was nice. As we were finding somewhere to sit, we ran into Richard, so went to sit outside with him and the group of people he was with. I only knew about half of them before, but everyone was lovely~ 

Eventually, some of us got hungry, so we decided to try riding a cable car to Nando's.

Surprisingly, it only cost about £3 to ride! Well worth the money, because it was a lot quicker than taking the tube, and the view was amazing.

 "Quickly guys, let's take pictures of ourselves before we die"

You can't see particularly well, but in the above photo the cable made a very steep drop. We started planning our deaths, and just as we reached the start of the drop, a cold, emotionless voice suddenly said "goodbye". It was actually like something from a horror movie ahaha. After a too-long pause (that I swear was there just to give the passengers time to freak out), it finished with "thank you for riding" or something.

We made it to the other side without dying, and then we ate delicious chicken. (￣∀￣)

I leave you with BABYMETAL's new song, because they're fabulous.

They're only 13 and 15 years old, but already so much cooler than I could ever hope to be! (´Д`)

(Also, please check out my sales post if you haven't already! I need to clear some space~)

25/05/2013 - MCM Expo day 2

Ahhh I'm so behind with posting! (ﾟдﾟ;) 

On that day I cosplayed Roromiya Karuta from Inu x Boku SS. I'd originally planned to actually make the uniform, but somehow never got around to it, so I borrowed Nao's one. <3

Awkward face shot lol

I arrived pretty early (about 11) and met Corwin, a friend from university. I didn't take many photos because we actually went inside the event on that day, and it was super crowded. 

 DeMc's band played outside~

Once we'd seen everything, Corwin and I hung out in central London until his train back to Birmingham. After that, I headed home to get ready for Japan Underground.

I hadn't planned an outfit and didn't have much time to think of one, so here's what I ended up wearing:

 I tried different eye make up~

There weren't many people there, but it was still a lot of fun~

Here, have a song:

Also, for anyone who missed it, I'm selling some stuff (mostly clothes at the moment) I don't use to clear out some space~ Take a look! C:

Paris: Expo

I've decided to do two entries on my trip to Paris, separated by Expo and non-Expo happenings. Expo first, as that was the main purpose of the trip. 

The Japan Expo in Paris is sort of like London's MCM Expo, only much bigger and better, and they actually have good guests. I went from Friday to Sunday. Friday was fairly uneventful, as my friends didn't get to Paris until the evening, and there wasn't a lot going on on that day.

One of my favourite parts of the Expo was the Nico Nico Douga booth, where anyone could go up and be interviewed and broadcast live on the Nico Nico site. The fun part is seeing the comments of the viewers, which scroll across screens shown at the back of the stage. Depending on who was currently being shown, the comments ranged from the extremely cruel to "I love you, marry me" haha, and no matter how boring the current interview, the comments were always hilarious. 

I went on on Friday, then again with Dodo on Sunday when we were maids. 8D

Amazing Versailles cosplayers.

Project Diva. I played this a LOT in arcades in Japan, and was already missing it by the next day, so I was really happy to see it at Expo.

ParaParaParadise. I also used to play this a lot, but haven't since the Trocadero arcade closed. :C

Kyary and Mameshiba shops. I'd seen most of their stock in Japan for about half the price, but there were a few things I missed:

Little post-it note things

Stickers 8D

I think the bag they gave me alone made it worth it haha.

Here's the only Expo outfit shot I took (with Dodo):

As I only had a day to pack after getting back from Japan, I didn't really have enough time to come up with any new outfits/costumes. I love wearing this though haha. 

On Saturday, there were two lives. First was Anli Pollicino:

They were amazing, and I was really surprised when they played their Dead or Alive cover, which I absolutely love. Shindy (vocalist) has gorgeous hair. 

Right after was Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Her set was very short (about 5 songs), but she was great. She's adorable in real life, but surprisingly short (she walked by me at one point, and was tiny). 

Her backup dancers were two of the most fabulous children on this earth. I spent most of it just watching them haha. As well as being better dancers than Kyary herself, they mouthed the lyrics with such dramatic facial expressions too haha. Adorable. They were in this video:

One of them (purple, apparently), who was also Kyary's dancer, is a boy!

And on Sunday was DaizyStripper! They were also great (and most of them were super short, too).

No picture, but I also bought just three mangas (Doubt and Judge), and was given this ridiculously large bag to carry them in. It's bigger than my suitcase! I had to leave it in Paris. We put Mameshiba stickers on it and used it to decorate our hotel room haha. 8)

-Finlay

25/05/2012-27/05/2012 - London MCM Expo

Expo this weekend was so much fun! I really can't be bothered to write about it properly though, so here are some pictures!

Could barely close my suitcase!

The stall (before the sushi was set up)

On Friday I wore the Haruhi Suzumiya cosplay I've had since I was 14 and haven't worn in years haha.

Our hotel room

Awkward maid lift photo early on Saturday morning

I wore bear ears because I don't like my maid head dress haha. 

With Emilie and Ksara

On Saturday night we went to Japan Underground. It was so much fun, but we had to leave early so we could get up early the next day. :C HITT performed, and I wasn't expecting to like him, but he was really good!

Not a great photo, but I really liked what he was wearing.

On Sunday I reused my Souseiseki cosplay. 

I don't have any green contacts, so I just wore a grey one to make my iris the same size as the red one haha.

Dom got me some nendoroids. 8D

Such a camp pose haha.

-Finlay

24/05/2012 - Shoot results and Expo tomorrow

This is just a quick blog to ask who's going to Expo this weekend? I'm more excited than I've been for Expo in years! My cosplay plans are as follows:

Friday: Haruhi Suzumiya

Saturday: Maid

Sunday: Souseiseki - Rozen Maiden

(I've been digging around my wardrobe for old cosplays haha. Haven't worn them in years!)

Come and say hi if you see me!

Also, the make up artist from my shoot a couple of days ago sent me the final photo (I love when I get the photos quickly haha):

Make-up/Hair: Jihye Sim
www.jihyesim.netai.net
Photographer: Tiffany Lin
http://www.tiffanylinphotography.com/

-Finlay

22/05/2012 - "sushi noms" and a shoot

First, let me tell you about sushi noms, the new business of my boyfriend and his brother. sushi noms sells imported Japanese accessories/cute things, and also sushi at events (the sushi is not imported from Japan, obviously)! The webshop isn't up yet, but they'll be at London Expo this weekend. I'll be helping out (with Alex's girlfriend, Emilie!), so come and see us if you're there! In the meantime, please like the Facebook page! C: Here are just a few of the things we'll be selling:

Rilakkuma ice cream pen!

Festival-themed Hello Kitty phone straps. I love these things haha.

-----------

Today was such a nice day! Unfortunately I spent a lot of it in a cold studio, but it was nice when I was outside. I was really lazy with clothes and dressed like a farmer:

I really can't pull off tank tops lol, but it was hot so I don't really care. 

I did a creative beauty shoot (which means "crazy make up shoot") with the make up artist Jihye Sim. Her work is awesome, so go check it out! It was a really fun shoot; all very laid back and everyone involved was lovely. And they gave me food, which is always appreciated. 8)

I was a bit late, because somehow I missed my stop by about 3 stations without realising the train had stopped at all, but there was another model whose make up was done first, so it was alright. Her make up took quite a while, so I was chatting to the photographer and her friend/assistant for ages, and it turns out we have similar tastes in music (and circle lenses haha). 8D During the shoot they were playing techno and such, which made a nice change from the horrible music that I often have to put up with. 

I didn't get a photo of my make up, but it was really cool. I think it'd best be described as abstract and colourful. I'm aware that doesn't really give you any idea how it looks, so you'll just have to wait for the photos. I also had a half-mask on for a few of the photos, but it didn't fit my face properly lol, so I ended up just holding it. At some point they also decided to paint my tongue green. With face paint. So that was interesting (and tasted horrific). 

Also, are any of you seeing LM.C in London tomorrow? 8D Come and talk to me if you are~

-Finlay

30/03/2012-01/04/2012 - Birmingham MCM Expo

On Friday afternoon I got the train to Dom and Alex's house in Woking to make for an easier start the next day, when we would be up before the crack of dawn to drive to Birmingham to set up the stall at the MCM Expo.

We spent most of the afternoon watching TV and eating pizza, then attempted to go to sleep at about 10pm, as we had to get up at 3am. I probably didn't get to sleep until about 1am, but I run fairly well without much sleep, and after some green tea and leftover pizza, I felt fine. We got ready and were out of the house by about 4.30am.

I wore a maid outfit, and bunny ears because it was almost Easter and I don't really like the headdress that came with the outfit haha.

Dom, who recently passed his driving test, rented a van to take all the stock up with us. It was one of the vans that have 3 seats, and I got the middle one. :D It kinda felt like I was the one driving. We stopped about half way for Starbucks, then arrived at the Expo for 7am. 

After unloading all the boxes (read: watching Dom and Alex unload all the boxes while I "guarded the van"), we had about an hour to set up the stall. That didn't take too long, so we had some time to start eating the ridiculous amount of cakes that Dom had bought. 

Business was pretty slow, unfortunately. There wasn't a huge amount of people, and most of them were there for the Memorabilia part of the event, although we did manage to introduce a few of them to the world of manga! Despite the unusual lack of sales, I still had a lot of fun meeting new people and stuffing my face with cake. When Expo finished, we got some food from Subway, then took the van to the hotel. After finally finding our room (it took a while!) at about 7ish, we fell asleep within a couple of hours. 

Sunday was pretty much the same, except I wore my old Meiko cosplay. I didn't take any pictures of the outfit alone, so here's me behind Dom "Faith Hilling". 

At the end of the day we loaded up the van, and drove back to Dom and Alex's house, where I stayed for a few days.

-Finlay